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A great many misguided people believe that mattress covers are items required only by the very old, the very young or others who may have health issues which result in incontinence. Guess again. Every single one of us loses an average of one pint of sweat each night as we sleep. Much of that will be absorbed into the bedding, but gravity being what it is, the lion’s share of those three hundred and sixty five pints shed every year will be soaked up by expensive mattresses. Obviously that figure will double where two share a bed and a double or king size bed is involved.
Mattress Covers Really Do Stop You From Waking Up Feeling Lousy
If that unpleasant fact isn’t enough to convince you that they are for everyone, a mattress protector will also prevent bed bugs from establishing themselves in a mattress. Seldom seen except in cases of extreme infestation because they like to remain hidden between feeds, bed bugs are minute creatures that bury themselves into the mattress and emerge only for food. This just happens to be the blood of a sleeping human, and they usually suck on their unwary victim for about ten minutes before burrowing happily back into the mattress again. A bed bug will live for a year, astonishingly managing to lay around half a dozen eggs daily. That adds up to a lot of bed bugs inside the average mattress, and gives rise to the expression ‘waking up feeling lousy’.
Even A Cheap Mattress Costs Enough To Justify A Cover
Since we can’t fit our sweaty, bug-ridden mattresses into the washing machine and can’t afford to replace them every time we wash the sheets, it’s vital to prevent them from getting into that state in the first place. This is where mattress covers come in. As well as providing a barrier between the mattress and everyday spills and accidents, a waterproof mattress protector will prevent sweat from soaking into it and bed bugs from making a home there. It will also trap existing bugs within the mattress, and starved of their only food source – you – they will quickly die.
How To Buy Mattress Covers
It’s important to take the measurements of your mattress and check them against the dimensions given on the pack of a mattress cover before you buy. Unless it’s something specifically created for your particular mattress, the manufacture cannot know your exact requirements because although the length and width form standard sizes (king size, queen size, double etc), there can be wide variations in depth and thickness. This is particularly important for a tight fit in the case of zip up covers which enclose the entire mattress, as opposed to those that just cover the top and sides, much like a fitted sheet.
Types Of Mattress Cover
As well as the standard waterproof mattress protector, covers come in several main variants, including the memory foam mattress cover and the cot bed mattress protector. For protection when in transit rather than when in use (during a house move, for example, you can even get a mattress cover for storage. Clearly there’s something for everyone, so there’s no reason why we can’t all enjoy sweet dreams!
Bedbugs are more than an annoyance, actually feeding off the blood of their victims. Most people are unaware of what’s causing their restless nights in bed and the consequent ‘drained’ feeling the following day, but bedbugs are behind it, and this is where we get the expression ‘feeling lousy’ from. Many people will go to such extreme lengths as regularly replacing their expensive mattresses, when what’s really needed for the entire family are mattress covers for bed bugs.
Mattress Covers For Bed Bugs
Mattress covers are not only used to prevent bed bugs from entering your mattress, making a home and colonising it by raising vast families there, but to kill off any existing infestation by sealing the bedbugs inside. This cuts them off from their human food source and starves them to death. Replacing a mattress will simply give more bedbugs a place to live, while using bed bug mattress covers stops this from happening. It will also prohibit your mattress from absorbing gallons of sweat and millions of dead skin cells every year and protect it from stains and smells.
Choosing Bed Bug Proof Mattress Covers
Not all mattress covers are created equal, and some are designed to protect against allergies while some are merely mattress covers for storage, although bed bugs themselves can be a cause of allergy and can irritate existing conditions. Specialist mattress covers for bed bugs are no more expensive than other types, but with so many varieties available it’s easy to make a mistake and buy one that’s not up to the job.
Plastic mattress covers are impenetrable by almost anything, although gaps around closures will obviously create an entry point, so choose a zip fastener if possible rather than poppers. Fabric mattress covers may protect against infestation if the material is very tightly woven, but since the close weave of the average mattress is insufficient defence against the problem, adequate fabric mattress covers for bed bugs are rare, and you will need to take the advice of your stockist. Always choose the snuggest fit available so that the mattress covers will not form uncomfortable wrinkles beneath the sheets.
Measures To Take In Addition To Using Bedbug Mattress Covers
Making use of mattress covers for bed bugs will go a long way towards stopping these beasts from making a midnight meal of you, but there are other actions you’ll need to take too. Launder your bedding regularly, particularly pillows, cushions and comforters. Turn your mattress frequently, and vacuum the mattress and the base of the bed at the same time. A quick blast from a steam cleaner can be very helpful here too, but do check with manufacturer’s instructions first.
Purchasing mattress covers for bed bugs may seem like paranoia until you realise that these creatures are not just a feature from stories of paupers of the last century, but have a very real presence in almost all modern homes. Bed bug mattress covers are essential to keep the whole family healthy and well, and to give everyone that well rested feeling that can only come from enjoying a sound night’s sleep.
The term ‘memory foam mattress cover’ can be used in two ways, and so it often causes misunderstandings. It can apply either to the cover which protects a memory foam mattress, or to a memory foam topper which covers a mattress. Confused? That’s hardly surprising, but the following article should prove enlightening.
Memory foam shapes itself to the form of the person who is sitting or laying upon it, cradling or offering support to aching and weary bodies. It was originally invented by NASA for use in it’s space missions in the 1970s, and began to appear in hospitals in the 1980s. However, the price prevented it from making much of an impact on domestic homes until the 1990s, when the technology involved in production improved and costs began to come down.
Memory Foam Mattress Covers
Nevertheless, prices are still not cheap and a memory foam mattress cover (as in the expression used in the first way above), is aimed at protecting these expensive investments. The covers are often made from a material similar to the mattress itself, as in theory it’s only the size and density of the mattress that prevents it from being shoved in the machine.
It’s all very well knowing how to clean a memory foam mattress, but in practice it’s just not possible to do it properly and they should be protected from the outset. If you’ve neglected to use a memory foam mattress cover and it’s now too late, the best policy is to spray the surface rather than wet it with a cloth, as they absorb far too much water too quickly and are extremely difficult to dry. Use a well-diluted solution of mild detergent and then repeat the process with plain water to rinse.
Memory foam mattresses must always be allowed to dry thoroughly, as to do otherwise will promote mould and mildew growth, guaranteed to be far nastier than anything you were trying to clean off in the first place. A memory foam mattress cover can usually just be tossed into the machine, but must not be tumble dried.
The Memory Foam Mattress Topper
These are around two inches thick, cut to the exact dimensions of the surface of the bed (king size, queen size, double or single etc) and sit on top of any mattress to offer support. Being substantially thinner they are a little easier to clean than memory foam mattresses, but it’s still very difficult to do effectively and so they can also benefit from a memory foam mattress cover.
Removing That New Memory Foam Mattress Cover Smell
Brand new memory foam mattresses and mattress covers have a distinctive and unpleasant smell about them that can last from anything from a few days up to two weeks. It will go away, but in the meantime you can help to counter it by dusting the product with baking soda and leaving it for a few hours before vacuuming it off, lightly spraying with fabric freshener spray or putting a few fabric softener sheets between the lower sheet and the memory foam, close to where the smell is most likely to offend.
Armed with the above information, buying a memory foam mattress cover should now be easy, and many nights of blissfully untroubled sleep await you.
A cot bed mattress protector is a very different purchase from that of other mattress covers, and needs much more careful evaluation. You’ve gone beyond merely seeking to protect a piece of furniture at this point, and now have the welfare of your baby to consider, one of the most precious people in your world. The primary factor in your choice MUST be an up to date safety standards label. A simple polythene waterproof mattress sheet can offer sufficient protection on the beds of older children, but in a baby’s crib it can be a tragedy. Don’t take the risk.
How About An Organic Cot Bed Mattress Protector? I Want The Best For My Baby
These are indeed available, crafted from such natural materials as soft lambswool, cotton or flannelette, but although they will keep the mattress free of dirt absorb minor moisture deposits such as baby dribble, they cannot offer full waterproof mattress protection because there are no plastics or chemicals involved in their construction. However, some companies offer cot mattress covers made from similar fabrics that are bonded to either side of a waterproof material so that it will never come into contact with a baby’s skin.
The more expensive cot bed mattress protectors will often be larger to accommodate a varying size of cot mattress, used folded while the baby is still in a crib and opened to full capacity to protect a cot bed when the child is older.
Can These Mattress Covers Be Washed With My Cot Bedding?
Always check the label when buying, but the soft, modern type described above can almost certainly be washed in the machine along with other bedding, although not all are suitable for the tumble dryer. The more traditional type made from thick, rubbery polythene that snuggly encloses the mattress completely and fastens with poppers at one end can usually be wiped down in situ, and will generally dry quickly after a hose down in the yard on a sunny day, which is rarely if ever necessary.
Can A Mattress Cover Cause My Baby Allergies?
Lots of companies are aware that babies with young, sensitive skins and respiratory organs can react to the chemicals and materials in the surface they spend so much time sleeping on. The Fogarty anti-allergy cot bed mattress protector is a clear market leader in the field, and actually costs less than many of the standard varieties do that don’t take allergies into account.
If you’re beginning to think that coming to a decision is a more involved and complicated process than you thought it might be, then you’re probably right. It can sometimes seem that there are as many types of cot bed mattress protector as there are types of babies. Hopefully this article will have pointed you towards the top choices so that you can quickly make yours and forget about the dreary subject of mattress protection, and then you can get on with the joyful business of enjoying life with your baby.
A mattress cover for storage can seem like a needless expense even when you haven’t got the conventional type on your beds, and a foray into financial insanity if all the family have already got a mattress protector. Why would you need one?
Picture the scene. The day of your house move has finally arrived. You’ve been planning this morning for weeks with almost military precision, and you have full control over everything. Except the weather. You can barely remember what rain looks like, but a huge black cloud has decided that, today of all days, it will let loose a deluge right over your house to remind you.
A mattress cover for storage would at least ensure that you had something dry to sleep on in your new home, even if the closest the removal truck can park is fifteen yards away, and could even be crucial for something like an expensive memory foam mattress if you are not to invalidate the guarantee.
Won’t Any Old Mattress Cover Do?
A standard waterproof mattress cover differs in that it is designed for sleeping on, and not to cope with the vagaries of the weather. That soft cotton or fleece backing will not withstand a downpour. A mattress cover for storage is made from the kind of plastic which would crackle uncomfortably beneath your weight and keep you awake if you tried to get some sleep on it.
Naturally, they are all of the type that totally enclose the mattress, rather than the ‘topper’ variety that are more like fitted sheets.
Furthermore, since many people haven’t adopted covers at all and have got the kind of mattresses that indicate that all human life has taken place on them to show for it, a mattress cover for storage will often be white in color to protect the privacy of the owner.
It’s for these reasons that you’ll want to use one, even if you’re not moving your mattress right away and are simply putting it in storage. Storage facilities are generally well protected from damp, but they all have a smell of their own after being repeatedly used by the public at large, and it’s not one you’d want absorbed into your mattress.
But I’ll Probably Never Use The Mattress Cover Again After The Move!
If saving yourself the cost of a pricey mattress in the event of an accident is not enough for you to justify purchasing one, you might be interested to know that there are other ways you can get your money’s worth out of buying a mattress cover for storage once the is over.
They can be used to cover patio and deck furniture through the winter, to help protect your barbecue from the elements, or even to cover motorbikes and bicycles.
There’s already enough to worry about when you’re moving house. The small price of a mattress cover for storage is worth paying for the peace of mind it will give you, and will give you the freedom to think of all the other things that will need doing on the day.
A waterproof mattress cover is an essential purchase for everyone in your home, ensuring that mattresses keep their value, protecting them from stains, odours and infestation by bed bugs, and shielding you from the inconvenience of a wet mattress. If you doubt that mattress covers are vital to all the family, read on.
Fancy Paying TWICE For That Cheap Mattress?
Whether or not you’re trying to keep costs down with an inexpensive mattress, it’s unlikely that you want to pay twice for it or to discover shortly down the line that it’s worth much less than the money you’ve invested in it. Yet that’s exactly the scenario you face if you don’t buy a waterproof mattress cover to protect your purchase from accidental damage or even the wear and tear that occurs during a normal night’s sleep. Accidents can and do happen, as you’re about to read.
Why You Need To Think Beyond The Cot Mattress
Despite the fact that modern baby bedding can generally be washed and dried within a matter of hours, most parents will already have installed a cot bed mattress protector. But what about older children? Even those who can be guaranteed to remain dry at night can occasionally wake up feeling too sick to think of making it to the bathroom (something that has been known to happen to adults too), and then there’s the prospect of spilling that glass of water that most kids keep on the nightstand.
It doesn’t just end with your accident prone children either. As soon as you’ve got them off to bed and are snuggling up in your own for some quality ‘grown up’ time, your mattress is at risk. Many a romantic moment that began in the warm glow of alcohol has come to a wet and abrupt end when the wine was inadvertently tipped over the bed in the heat of passion.
‘We Don’t Need A Waterproof Mattress Cover – We Never Have Accidents!’
Even if you could be certain you’ll never have any slip ups while relaxing in bed, you’ll still sweat and you’ll still have warm blood in your veins. That warm blood is tasty food to bed bugs, the tiny insects who live and breed largely undetected deep within many mattresses. After briefly emerging to feed on the occupant of the bed, they’ll happily burrow back inside the mattress again, despite the fact that it will also have absorbed much of the pint of sweat we each lose every single night. A mattress cover will prevent sweat and bed bugs from causing any damage and can kill any bed bugs that might already have taken up residence.
It should be obvious by now that to keep mattresses sweet smelling and stain free and to avoid unwittingly sharing our slumbers with hungry bed bugs, everyone needs a waterproof mattress cover. If distant childhood memories of rubber or thick plastic crackling beneath you every time you rolled over have put you off the idea, then you can relax. Contemporary mattress covers are made from much thinner material and can be backed with cotton, fleece or even memory foam and are virtually silent. There’s no reason why anyone should be without one.
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